Appliance-supporting dolly



y 13, 1957 J. c. POPELKA 3,33

APPLIANCE-S UPPORTING DOLLY Filed May 10, 1965 INVENTOR. JOSEPH C. POPE L KA United States Patent 3,331,613 APPLIANCE-SUPPORTING DOLLY Joseph C. Popelka, 3408 Braehurn St.,

Sacramento, Calif. 95821 Filed May 10, 1965, Ser. No. 454,612 2 Claims. (Cl. 28035) My invention relates to means particularly for use with appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and the like often utilized in the home and intended to make access to the areas under and around such appliances more easily accessible.

In the usual installation, a refrigerator or freezer, for example, is initially installed in a home on the floor, usually adjacent one wall or perhaps adjacent two or more walls, and is necessarily left in place since it is very heavy and not readily movable by the housewife. This immobility makes it difficult to gain access to the narrow space around the appliance in the event anything should be inadvertently lodged therein and also makes it diflicult to clean near and under the appliance and to service the appliance.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an appliance supporting dolly that can be readily installed With an appliance of any of the usual range of sizes and will aflford a well-fitted and firm movable support for the appliance.

Another object of the invention is to provide an appliance-supporting dolly that readily can be arranged to fit any one of a number of appliances of different size.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an appliance-supporting dolly that is light but strong and bears the weight of the appliance at appropriately estab lished points.

Another object of the invention is to provide an appliance-supporting dolly that can easily be disassembled and stored when not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an appliance-supporting dolly that accommodates itself too minor variations in the contours of the appliance with which it is utilized and tends to equalize for variations in evenness of the floor on which it is utilized.

Another object of the invention is to provide an appliance-supporting dolly which can be made to fit not only ordinary appliances of the regular sizes, but can easily be extended to accommodate appliances of unusual sizes.

Other objects together with the foregoing are attained in the embodiment of the invention described in the accompanying description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of an appliance-supporting dolly constructed in accordance with the invention, the view showing some of the parts in disassembled location and some of the parts out of their ordinary positions in order to disclose the particular construction employed;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the appliance-supporting dolly in an intermediate position available for extension to enlarged size; and

FIGURE 3 is a view in isometric perspective of an appliance-supporting dolly in accordance with the invention, but particularly showing an extension member for use therewith, portions of the figure being broken away to reduce its size.

In the particular form of device disclosed in FIGURE 1, there is provided a dolly inclusive of four pairs of corner members 6, 7, 8 and 9. Each of these corner members is virtually like the others and is L-shaped in plan with the legs 11 and 12 of substantially the same length. Each of the legs is a strap-like member planar in contour and usually fabricated of strip steel or the "ice like. The straps are rectangular in plan themselves and are arranged with one end of each strap overlying an equivalent end of the other strap to afford a square corner pad 13 of double thickness. These straps are preferably secured together. This can be accomplished by welding or can equally be accomplished by a plurality of fastenings 14 which pass through both of the straps and also engage the plate 16 of a supporting caster 17 of the usual wheel variety.

Situated on the corner pad 13 on the side opposite the caster is a cushion 18 conveniently made of an elastomer such as sponge rubber having the ability to yield slightly under load.

To accommodate the dolly to a particular appliance, four of the L-shaped corner sections, as shown, are placed with their respective arms 11 and 12 in overlapping relationship. The overlap is such that the four corner pads 18 occur at appropriate points for the particular size of appliance to be supported.

So that the straps can be fastened together at least temporarily in their overlapped adjusted position, each of the straps, such as 11 and 12, is provided with either a series of aligned apertures 21 or is provided with an elongated slot 22, the walls of the apertures and of the slots being part of the strap material and either the aperture arrangement or the slot arrangement being substantially equivalent to an elongated opening through the strap. I

The parts in the predetermined relationship are fastened together by through bolts 24 held by wing nuts 26. At least four such bolts and wing nuts are utilized, but more may be employed if desired to increase the security of the fastening.

When a supporting dolly has been assembled to the right dimensions for the appliance as described, the appliance is supported thereon. The appliance can then be wheeled on the casters into and out of a selected location. If the floor is somewhat uneven or if the lower surface of the appliance is somewhat irregular, the yielding pads 18 accommodate minor differences and permit the appliance to be well positioned on a firm footing despite discrepancies and irregularities.

In some instances, the various L-shaped corner members cannot be extended far enough to accommodate a relatively large appliance. Under those circumstances, an arrangement such as is shown in FIGURE 3 is employed. This device includes a pair of planar arms 27 and 28 overlapped in a straight line to provide a square pad 29 to which a caster 31 is applied. On the opposite side, a cushion 32 like the-cushions 18 is mounted. Since the arms 27 and 28 are overlapped, they do not occupy the same planes, but rather complement the adjacent straps such as 11 and 12 of a corner member.

As particularly shown in FIGURE 2, an extension member such as illustrated in FIGURE 3 can be located with the pad 29 between the ends 33 and 34 of the adjacent corner members 36 and 37 and can be fastened thereto. The corner member 9 can likewise be moved in the direction of the arrow 38 and a similar extension member can be introduced in connection therewith, This arrangement accommodates a large-size appliance.

What is claimed is:

1. An appliance-supporting dolly comprising:

(a) a plurality of L-shaped corner members each including a pair of planar straps disposed in different planes and overlapped at one end to provide a corner pad of double thickness;

(b) fastening means for securing together overlapped portions of said straps to form a rectangular frame;

(c) a pair of extension members each including a central pad and a pair of planar arms projecting horizontally away from said central pad in opposite directions and disposed in diflerent planes, each of said References Cited ebxttension nembers lieing capable of heingdinterrfaoiehd UNITED STATES PATENTS e ween a 130611 5 raps on opp s1 e si es 0 e rectangular frame for uniformly extending the frame 115 61,122 11/1923 Stahl and maintaining the rectangular form thereof; 5 2'347089 4/194 Donaldson (d) means for detachably securing each of said arms 2763491 9/1965 Thorwaldson 280' 5 of SilidifitfglSiOg mentlberg infface1 to face enigage- FOREIGN PATENTS men W1 e a acen en s o sa1 s raps, an 1,384,869 11/1964 France.

(e) a plurality of casters mounted on the lower surfaces of said corner pads and said central pads. 10 975O64 11/1965 Great Bntam' 2. An appliance-supporting dolly as in claim 1 further BENJAMIN HERSH Prima Examiner including a plurality of cushions mounted on the upper ry surfaces of said corner pads and said central pads. L. D. MORRIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN APPLIANCE-SUPPORTING DOLLY COMPRING: (A) A PLURALITY OF L-SHAPED CORNER MEMBERS EACH INCLUDING A PAIR OF PLANAR STRAPS DISPOSED IN DIFFERENT PLANES AND OVERLAPPED AT ONE END TO PROVIDE A CORNER PAD OF DOUBLE THICKNESS; (B) FASTENING MEANS FOR SECURING TOGETHER OVERLAPPED PORTIONS OF SAID STRAPS TO FORM A RECTANGULAR FRAME; (C) A PAIR OF EXTENSION MEMBERS EACH INCLUDING A CENTRAL PAD AND A PAIR OF PLANAR ARMS PROJECTING HORIZONTALLY AWAY FROM SAID CENTRAL PAD IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS AND DISPOSED IN DIFFERENT PLANES, EACH OF SAID 